Guide to Development and Use of Electronic Computer Programs: Computers and Programming

Computers and programming are introduced from the user's point of view. The computer is presented as an information processing device, and the two types of information, namely, the program that directs processing, and the data being processed, are described. The principles of stored information, addresses of information, and computer control are discussed. Programming languages, ranging from absolute to problem-oriented, are briefly described and illustrated. The concept of the composite machine seen by the user, consisting of both the machine (hardware) and processing systems (software) is presented.